Combined drinking-cup and filter.



No.855',820. PATENTED JUNE 4,1907.

' R. 0. YSTBBBINS.

COMBINE D DRINKING CUP AND FILTER. APPLIOATION FILED mm: 29, 1906.

25 37 30 20a BSHEETS-BHEET 1.

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R. 0. STBBBINS.I

COMBINED DRINKING 0UP AND FILTER.

APPLIOA TION FILED JUNE 29, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ROSWELL O. STEBBINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COMBINED DRINKING-CUP AND FILTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1907.

Application filed June 29, 1906- Serial No. 324,007.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RoswnLL O. SrnBBINs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Drinking-Cups and Filters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to drinking-cups and filters of that class which are conveniently ortable and adapted to be carried in the pocket of the clothing.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and improved composite device which will combine in compact form the drinkingcup and filtering means of the class above set forth in such a manner that the composite device may be conveniently carried in the pocket of the clothing.

A further object of my invention and im provements is to provide a combined device of the character set forth in which the filtering means will be safely inclosed by and carried within the drinking-cup during transportation and perfectly protected from contamination while carried in the pocket, in which the filtering means is detachable and capable of independent use as desired, in which the drinking-cup or inclosing structure will provide means for carrying and protecting supplementary filtering material, in which the relative structures and arrange ment of the combined elements of the device will assure a maximum degree of compactness and avoid any waste of space or enlargement of size beyond that required for utility and effective service, and which will furthermore possess advantages in point of simplicity, safety, convenience, inexpensiveness, ef fectiveness, and general efficiency.

In the drawingsFigure 1 a vertical longitudinal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the combined device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section, taken on the line 00-00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-sec tion, taken on the line y-y, Fig. 1. Fig. i is a detail perspective view of the filtering device, detached from the drinking-cup or inclosing member. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the inner member of the cap or closure of the drinking-cup, showing the same in inverted position and illustrating the arrangement of the supplementary filtering material consisting of disks which are carried and inclosed by said cap. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view illustrating the separable members of the filtering means carried by the filtering device.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are denoted by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the drinking-cup, which is preferably of cylindrical contour, having sides, 2, a bottom, 3, and an open top. The cup or body-member 1 is preferably formed in a single piece of suitable metal, and preferably has its circumferential edges at the junction of the side portion with the bottom curved or rounded, as at 4, so that wear or damage to the pocket of the clothing is obviated, and its bottom 3 flat (as shown in Fig. 1) so that the cup or body will securely maintain an erect position when resting or supported upon its bottom.

5 designates the filtering device, adapted to be inclosed and protected in its entirety within the drinking-cup or body 1 during transportation, which is operated within the drinking-cup when the cap or closure of the latter is removed and the cup is in service, and which is detachable from the cup or inclosing body for purposes of cleansing or substitution of filtering material or independent use in a glass or other vessel containing water or drinking fluid. The filtering device comprises a body, 6, preferably of conical and tubular construction, from which extends a tube, 7, forming a mouthpiece and preferably having a curved and flattened terminal end or outlet, as at 8, for convenient conformation when the tube is inserted in the mouth. The body portion 6 and the tube 7 are preferably formed of suitable metal, and the tube constituting the mouth-piece forms a rigid extension of the body and is of suitable length adapting it to be contained within the drinking-cup 1 and the cap or closure of the latter. The filtering device 5 is also preferably of a general cylindrical contour. The body 6 comprises a circumferential projecting flange, 9, which in the form and construction herein shown is annular and projects downwardly from the peripheral circumference of the wide portion of the tubular and conical part of the body 6. The lower edge of said flange 9 is preferably extended outwardly and downwardly at an angle, as at 10, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described. A perforated disk, 11, is mounted within the body portion 6 of the filtering device, and forms a dividing partition transversely therein, this disk bewhich is ing preferably located within the flangeportion 9 at a point intersecting the junction of the latter with the conical part. The disk 1 1 is preferably formed of suitable metal, and the perforations, which extend over its surface area, are of suflicient fineness to permit the passage of the water or drinking fluid through the disk but prevent the passage of animalculae or particles of foreign matter, whereby the disk provides an effective strainer in the process of filtration. This disk 11 is preferably detachable or removable from the filtering device, for purposes of cleansing, and when used in connection with the other filtering media hereinafter described it will be retained in proper position by said other filtering devices, its seat at the junction ofthe flange 9 and conical part of the body 6 being limited by the inward inclination of the walls of said conical part.

The filtering media, supplemental to the.

disk or strainer 11, consists of a detachable cup-shaped member, 12, which has a normal inverted position and comprises a top-plate, 14, sides, 15, formed by a flange projecting downwardly from said portion 14, and an open bottom. The cup-shaped member 12 is preferably formed in a single piece of suitable metal and corresponds in contour to the space within the flange 90f the body 6 of the filtering device. Thus, in the construction herein shown and described, the side flange 15 of the member 12 is annular and rests Within and parallel to the flange 9 of the body 6. The member 12 forms a retaining device whereby a disk of filtering material, as at 16, is retained in position between the strainer disk 11 and the top-plate 14' of said member 12. This disk of filtering material 16 may consist of a disk-shaped piece of chemically-pure paper or other suitable material of proper texture or mesh, whereby a fine filtering material is provided against the passage of microbic or other organic matter. The disk 16 extends across the surface area of the top-plate 14 of the member 12 and against the bottom surface area of the strainer disk 11 and has its side edges extending downwardly between the flanges 15 and 9 of the members 12 and 6.

In the operation of inserting the filtering disk 16 in position, it is simply necessary to place said disk over the top-plate 14 of the detached member 12, with the edges, 17, of the disk turned down against the flange 15, when the member 12 is inserted within the flange 9 and pressed into position so that the disk 16 stretches across the under side of the strainer disk 11 and its edges 17 are clamped between the flanges 15 and 9, as shown at Fig. 1. The relative position of the parts 12 and 16 within the flange 9 is maintained by pressure, and these parts also serve to retain the strainer disk 1 1 in position, but the member 12 may be readily withdrawn from within the flange 9, against this pressure, and disk 16 also removed, for pur,

the filtering poses of substitution or cleansing. The edge of the annular flange 15 is preferably extended outwardly, as at 18, which extension projects beneath the annular extension 10 at the edge of the flange 9 and coincides with the outer edge or periphery of said extension 10 (see Fig. 1). The extension 18 forms a means adapted to be grasped by the fingers, whereby the member 12 may be withdrawn from or seated in operative position, but, by reason of the extension 10 upon the flange 9, and the fact that the extension 18 does not project beyond said flange 9 and its extension 10, the extension 10 thus protects the extension 18 against unintentional engagement with the clothing or otherwise and obviates accidental withdrawal of the member 12 from within the flange 9 by reason of such engagement. The top-plate 14 of the member 12 is provided over its surface area with openings or perforations, as at 19, of suflicient diameter to permit the free passage of the water or drinking fluid to the filtering disk 16.

In the improved construction as comprised in my invention, the top-plate 14 of the member 12 is preferably concavo-convex in contour, (see Fig. 1), whereby a space exists between said part 14 and the filtering disk 16 and said part 14 does not rest flat against said disk, and consequently all of the openings 19 operatively and simultaneously provide free passages for the water to the space above the top-plate 14 and beneath the filtering disk 16. A free passage for the water is thus provided through the member 12 to the filtering disk 16, all of the openings 19 being freely in operation simultaneously, and at the same time the perforated part 14 provides an effective strainer for relativelylarge particles of foreign matter which may be in the water or drinking fluid.

Under some circumstances of desired filtration, conditioned upon the character of IIO the water available or in use, it may be necessary to employ for straining or filtering only the strainer disk 11, under which circumstances the filtering disk 16 and its retainer consisting of the member 12 may be dispensed with; under such circumstances as those just stated, the strainer disk 11 can maintain its position within the body 6 by pressure contact with the walls of the parts 6 or its flange 9, or in the manufacture of the filtering device the strainer disk 11 may be permanently secured in position if desired.

20 designates a cap or closure for the drinking-cup 1, which is preferably of corresponding tubular and cylindrical contour, having sides, 21, a top, 22, and an open bottom. The cap-piece 20 corresponds in general outline and contour to the opposite or bottom end of the drinking-cup body 1, and

it is likewise preferably formed in a single piece of suitable metal, having its circumferential edges at the junction of the side portion with the top curved or rounded, as at 28, in a manner corresponding to the rounded edges 4 of the body 1, so that wear or damage to the pocket of the clothing is obviated, and its top 22 is preferably also likewise fiat (as shownin Fig. 1) to form a rest whereby the cap-piece will maintain an erect position when removed from the drinking-cup and rested or supported in inverted position upon its top. The relative construction and arrangement is such that the sides 21 of the cap-piece are received within the open top of the drink ing-cup 1 and rest within and against the corresponding sides 2 of the latter, the cap-piece being maintained in position by frictional pressure contact of the sides 2 and 21, to effectively close the mouth of the cup and cover the filtering device contained in the latter; the cap-piece can, however, be readily withdrawn from the drinking-cup, to enable the use of the latter and the operation of the filtering device as desired. To limit the downward movement of the cap-piece Within the mouth of the drinking-cup, the sides 21 are preferably provided with a circumferential rib, as at 2 1, which may be formed by simply pressing the metal of the sides 21, which rib or projection provides a lateral enlargement adapted to contact with the top edge of the sides 2 of the drinking-cup, and this rib also forms a convenient means which may be grasped by the fingers to facilitate the operation of withdrawing the cap or closure from the drinking-cup.

The filtering material, consisting of the disk, 16, of course requires frequent renewal in the utilization of the filtering device, and supplementary disks of filtering material must be provided for this purpose. An important feature of my resent invention is the provision of means or carrying the supplementary disks of filtering material in connection with the composite device consisting of the drinking-cup and filter, and not only carrying the supplementary disks compactly without loss of space but also inclosing and protecting the disks against deterioration or contamination. In providing for the pur poses and functions just stated, the construction involved in my invention utilizes the space within the drinking-cup and the cap or closure and surrounding the stem or tube 7 of the filtering device, which would otherwise be waste space. The construction comprises a reservoir or holder, 25, which is carried by and within the cap-piece 20 and is insertible and detachable with relation thereto. This reservoir for the filtering material is preferably of cylindrical contour, corresponding to the cap-piece, and comprises sides, 26, a bottom, 27, and an open top. The member 25 is preferably formed in a single piece of suitable metal, and has its bottom fiat so that it will form a base upon which the reservoir or holder can be rested (see Figs. 1 and 5) when it is out of use or detached from the cap-piece. The member 25 is inserted upwardly in the open bottom of the cap-piece and occupies the interior area of the latter, its sides 26 having a frictional pressure contact within and against the sides 21 of the cap-piece, whereby the member 25 is maintained in position but can be withdrawn from within the cap-piece against said pressure contact. To economize space, in providing for the top portion of the stem or tube 7 of the filtering device when the latter is inclosed within the drinking-cup and the cap-piece, the member 25 is provided centrally with a tubular chamber or dome, as at 28, formed of sides, 29, and having an open bottom, said chamber or dome preferably having a closed top, as at 80. The chamber or dome 28 thus provides a space for the accommodation of the top portion of the stem or tube of the filtering device.

The supplementary disks of filtering ma terial, 16, are placed within the space of the member 25 between its outer walls 26 and inner walls 29 and at opposite sides of the central chamber or dome 28, as shown in Fig. 5, and the disks will thus curve around the cen tral chamber and effectively utilize the full space or interior area of the holder or reservoir 25, and the relative construction is preferably such that the top edges of the disks16 will project above the side Walls 26, so that a disk can be conveniently grasped with the fingers and withdrawn for use. The central chamber or dome 28 preferably has its top 30 flat, to correspond to the fiat top 22 of the cap piece, and. it will be noted that when the member 25 is in position within the cap-piece the top 30 rests against the inner surface of the top 22, whereby the disks 16 will be pro tected against any water or moisture which may remain in the drinking-cup after the latter has been used and the cap or closure applied in position. A small vent opening, 31, may be provided in the top 30, to facilitate the insertion of the member 25 within the cap-piece.

It will be noted that the top 22 of the cappiece 20 forms a top closure for the holder or reservoir 25, and that the central chamber 28 provides an effective means for the insertion of the finger in the operation of withdrawing the member 25 from the cap-piece.

The operation and advantages of my invention will be readily understood. The device embodies conveniently and compositely a drinking-cup, filtering device, and reservoir or carrier for additional or supplementary filtering material, in compact association without loss of space, and is adapted to be readily carried in the pocket of the clothing, and at all times during transportation the filtering device and supplementary filtering material are thoroughly protected, while the supplementary filtering material is protected when the drinking-cup and filtering device are in use-and-fiat all times when said reservoir or carrier for the supplementary filtering material is not opened for the purpose of removing a disk therefrom. To use the drinking-cup and filtering device, it is simply necessary to remove the cap-piece (which carries with it the reservoir or carrier for the supplementary filtering material) from the cup, when the cup may be filled with water or drinking fluid and the filtering device may be employed in the process of drinking from the cup by simply resting its lower portion in the water or drinking fluid and insert-ing the upper end of the stem or tube in the mouth of the user, when the water or drinking fluid can be drawn by suction through the straining and filtering elements in the body portion of the filtering device and through the outlet tube of the latter to the mouth of the user.

strainer disk 11, or with said strainer disk in conjunction with the filtering disk 16 and the retaining strainer 12, as desired, according to circumstances and the condition of the water or drinking fluid. To apply a new filtering disk 16 to the filtering device, it is simply necessary to remove the reservoir-or carrier from the cap-piece, withdraw a disk therefrom, and then return the reservoir to normal position, when the new disk can be substituted for the old one in the body of the filtering device by simply withdrawing and re-inserting the retaining member 12.

I do not herein specifically claim the construction of the filtering device itself, as this constitutes the subject-matter of a separate co-pending application for patent filed June 30th, 1906, Serial No. 324,141.

The device constituting my invention and improvements is exceedingly simple and compact and has a wide range of use and utility. It is especially adapted for use in tropical countries and by sportsmen, soldiers, and. all others who are circumstanced under conditions where the drinking water or fluid available is subject to impurity or contamination.

I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the detail construction and arrangement of parts as herein shown and described, as it is manifest that variations and modifications therein may be resorted to, in the adaptation of my invention to varying conditions of use, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention and improvements. I therefore reserve the right to all such variations and modifications as properly fall within the scope of my invention and the terms of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I

The filtering .device may be employed with only the claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device having filtering material and inclosed Within the cup, a cap or closure for closing the cup and inclosing the filtering device, and a reservoir for carrying supplementary filtering material, said reservoir being carried by the cap or closure.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device contained therein and having filtering material, a cap or closure for the cup, and a reservoir carrying supplementary filtering material,

said reservoir being detachably carried by the cap or closure.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device contained therein and having filtering material, a cap or closure for the cup, and a detachable reservoir carried by the cap or closure and having a space inclosed Within the cap or closure and adapted to contain supplementary filtering material.

4. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device contained therein and having filtering material, a cap or closure insertible downwardly within the cup, and a reservoir insertible upwardly in the cap or closure and adapted to contain supplementary filtering material.

5. A device of the class described, comprising a drinkingcup, a filtering device contained therein and having filtering material, a cap or closure for the cup, and a reservoir for carrying supplementary filtering material, said reservoir being carried by the cap or closure and closed against the interior space of the cup structure.

6. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device contained therein and having filtering material, a cap or closure for the cup, and a reservoir for carrying supplementary filtering material, said reservoir being detachably carried by the cap or closure and closed against the interior space of the cup structure.

7. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device contained therein and separable therefrom and having filtering material, a detachable cap or closure for the cup, and a reservoir for contianing supplementary filtering material, said reservoir being detachably carried and inclosed by the cap or closure.

8. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device contained therein and. having filtering material and a projecting tubular stem forming an outlet, a cap or closure for the cup, and a reservoir for containing supplementary filtering material, said reservoir being embodied in the cap or closure and having a chamber or dome for receiving the tubular stem of the filtering device.

9. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device contained therein and having filtering material and a projecting tubular stem forming an outlet, a cap or closure for the cup, and a reservoir for carrying supplementary filtering material, said reservoir being contained interiorly Within the cap or closure and having a chamber or dome for receiving the tubular stem of the filtering device.

10. A device of the class described, comprising a drinking-cup, a filtering device contained therein and separable therefrom, said filtering device having filtering material and a projecting tubular stem forming an outlet,

ROSWELL O. STEBBINS.

Witnesses:

Jos. REED LITTELL, BESSIE CosTIGAN. 

